Thanks to everyone who turned out for yesterday’s City Planning Commission hearing on the proposed Hotel Special Permit Requirement for Greenwich Village and the East Village south of Union Square.  Testimony from the public was unanimous in calling upon the City to replace the proposal, which offers virtually no help or protections to our neighborhoods, with the real landmark and zoning protections Village Preservation has been calling for that would protect historic buildings, reinforce the predominantly residential character of the neighborhood (prohibiting or discouraging large new office buildings or hotels) and ensure that any new development matches the existing predominantly low-to-mid-rise scale.  Read Village Preservation’s testimony here and watch CBS News coverage about the hearing here and read coverage in Patch here. 

We came into the hearing with great momentum thanks to the powerful resolutions panning the plan and demanding stronger protections for our neighborhoods from Community Boards 2, 3 and 5, and a very forceful resolution from Borough President Gale Brewer issued the day before the hearing calling for the same (read it here).

The City Planning Commission vote on this proposal will come in the next few weeks; if approved as expected (the majority of the Commission’s members are appointed by the Mayor), it will go to the City Council for a public hearing and a vote, where its fate will be decided by local Councilmember Carlina Rivera.  Councilmember Rivera has not yet stated a position on the issue.

We need to keep pushing the Mayor, Councilmember Rivera, and city officials to come through with real protections for our neighborhood, not measures like this which offer virtually none (if implemented, the City predicts low-rise, historic, residential buildings in our neighborhood will STILL be torn down and replaced by commercial high-rises; the only difference is they will be office buildings instead of hotels). 

TO HELP:

Write City Officials Demanding Real Protections for Greenwich Village and the East Village South of Union Square – CLICK HERE

See vparchive.gvshp.org/savemyneighborhood for more information.